I always thought the reason for that was the size of fenships. Sure you can go someplace fast, but you can't really take that much with you. The largest things taking off from earth (Unreal estate aside), are usually waved airliners, and such... and not really that many of them. It's still a 6 hour journey to Mars, on average... add in take off and landing and you've got the best part of half a day before you do anything there. Most fen only have the average fencar/bus right?... they can't carry much more than a tent with them. Most fen probably don't have anything but the credits in their pocket to buy passage...
Maybe it's not limited by speed, colonisation is limited by the carrying capacity of most space vehicles. Youre average car can't carry much more than a weeks food and a tent.
Also, travelling to Mars in a fencar is a special kind of hell, if it's going to take 60 hours in conditions that'd make an Apollo astronaut feel claustrophic.
I also quite like the concept of Dublin to Mars being a similar journey time as Dublin to Cork. It feels like *everyone* can go for a visit, but most cars can't carry enough to allow them to stay.
Ships with actual cargo capacity are much rarer. Even you average aircraft won't carry more than fifty tonnes. And since a good chunk of that will have to be taken up with food, water, air and provisions, you're seriously limiting the amount you can carry with you. It takes a lot of cargo runs to keep a colony supported. Take the time to load, takeoff, fly, land unload, refuel into the equation, you're going to be lucky to be making 1 return trip in a day. Out to Jupiter and beyond, it starts becoming every couple of days.
And it starts getting expensive too. When a good deal of your food and water and matériel have to be shipped all the way up from Earth, how much money/barter does that cost? It's still cheaper and easier to get stuff into cislunar space, than it is to get things further out. And most people aren't that adventurous... cislunar space is still pretty safe, and still pretty easy to get back to Earth.
At least, that's my attempt at justification.. I haven't really been here that long
I also quite like the distinction between acceleration and speed drives.... though that's probably only because I tried to use it.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Maybe it's not limited by speed, colonisation is limited by the carrying capacity of most space vehicles. Youre average car can't carry much more than a weeks food and a tent.
Also, travelling to Mars in a fencar is a special kind of hell, if it's going to take 60 hours in conditions that'd make an Apollo astronaut feel claustrophic.
I also quite like the concept of Dublin to Mars being a similar journey time as Dublin to Cork. It feels like *everyone* can go for a visit, but most cars can't carry enough to allow them to stay.
Ships with actual cargo capacity are much rarer. Even you average aircraft won't carry more than fifty tonnes. And since a good chunk of that will have to be taken up with food, water, air and provisions, you're seriously limiting the amount you can carry with you. It takes a lot of cargo runs to keep a colony supported. Take the time to load, takeoff, fly, land unload, refuel into the equation, you're going to be lucky to be making 1 return trip in a day. Out to Jupiter and beyond, it starts becoming every couple of days.
And it starts getting expensive too. When a good deal of your food and water and matériel have to be shipped all the way up from Earth, how much money/barter does that cost? It's still cheaper and easier to get stuff into cislunar space, than it is to get things further out. And most people aren't that adventurous... cislunar space is still pretty safe, and still pretty easy to get back to Earth.
At least, that's my attempt at justification.. I haven't really been here that long
I also quite like the distinction between acceleration and speed drives.... though that's probably only because I tried to use it.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?